Priest Nguyen Duc Vinh leads a Sunday Mass at Phu Tang church in Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province, Vietnam Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. The attendees pray for the victims of the U.K truck deaths in which local villagers are feared to be among the ill-fated migrants. (AP Photo/Linh Do)
The Associated Press
YEN THANH, Vietnam (AP) - Police in central Vietnam said Sunday that they have taken forensic samples from residents who believe their family members may be among the 39 victims found dead last week in the back of a truck in England.
Police in Nghe An province took samples including hair and nails from the family members to try to help identify the victims, the VNExpress news website reported.
Up to 24 Vietnamese families had reported their missing family members to local authorities as of Sunday afternoon, the website said.
Thirteen people in Nghe An's Yen Thanh district have been reported missing, with relatives fearing they could be among the victims found early Wednesday in an industrial park in southeastern England.
At their home in the district's Tho Thanh village, the mother and a brother of Vo Ngoc Nam were awaiting news from the U.K. after not hearing from him for a week.
"We suspect that he was in the container in which people died. We don't know what's going on, but we think it's true," Nam's older brother Vo Ngoc Chuyen said.
In Do Thanh, another village in the district, people attended a Sunday Mass to pray for the missing family members. Three families in Do Thanh have reported to local authorities that their missing family members could be among the victims.
During the Mass, the priest, the Rev. Nguyen Duc Vinh, encouraged people to keep up their hopes until officials confirm the identities of the victims.
U.K. police said Saturday that all 39 victims were out of the truck and in a mortuary awaiting autopsies. But they said the victims have not been identified and very few documents were found with the bodies.
Meanwhile, British police released three people on bail Sunday after questioning them in the deaths.
A 38-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman - both from the northern English town of Warrington - and a 46-year-old man from Northern Ireland were questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people.
Essex Police on Saturday charged the driver of the truck, 25-year-old Maurice Robinson of Northern Ireland, with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering. He is to appear in court Monday.
Irish police said another man was arrested Saturday in connection with the case.
British police said their investigation includes over 500 exhibits, including cellphones that have to be downloaded to help identify the victims.
"We are working hard to understand how the 39 victims of this tragic incident have died and to identify all those involved," said Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore. "We remain open-minded as to nationalities of those who have died. We are asking anyone who may have information that may assist us in identification to come forward to us."
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Dinh reported from Hanoi, Vietnam. Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
Priest Nguyen Duc Vinh prays as he leads a Sunday Mass at Phu Tang church in Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province, Vietnam Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. The attendees pray for the victims of the U.K truck deaths in which local villagers are feared to be among the ill-fated migrants. (AP Photo/Linh Do)
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A woman wearing a white head band, traditionally worn by relatives of a deceased person during the funeral in Vietnam to show sign of mourning, attends a Sunday Mass at Phu Tang church in Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province, Vietnam Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. The attendees pray for the victims of the U.K truck deaths in which local villagers are feared to be among the ill-fated migrants. (AP Photo/Linh Do)
The Associated Press
Vo Ngoc Chuyen, brother of Vo Ngoc Nam, speaks to media at his home in Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province, Vietnam Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. Chuyen's family fear that Vo Ngoc Nam could be among the people who died in a container in U.K. (AP Photo/Linh Do)
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Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore speaks to the media during a press conference at Grays Police Station in Essex, England after the bodies of 39 people were found inside a lorry in the Waterglade Industrial Park during the early hours of Wednesday morning. Saturday Oct. 26, 2019. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
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In a photo released by the family of Nguyen Dinh Luong shows Nguyen, 20, posing for a selfie in this undated photo. Luong's family fears that he may be among the 39 people found dead in the back of a container truck in southeastern England. (Family of Nguyen Dinh Luong via AP)
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Nguyen Dinh Hai holds an ID photo of his younger brother Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, at his home on Oct. 26, 2019, in Can Loc district, Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. Luong's family fears that he may be among the 39 people found dead in the back of a container truck in southeastern England. (Nguyen Dinh Hai via AP Photo)
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Shipping containers are moved and stacked as they are prepared load onto a ship at the Port of Zeebrugge, in Zeebrugge, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. British police raided two sites in Northern Ireland and questioned a truck driver as they investigate the deaths of 39 people found in a truck container that they believe came from Zeebrugge and was found at an industrial park in southeastern England. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
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Shipping containers are stacked and ready to load onto a ship at the Port of Zeebrugge, in Zeebrugge, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. British police raided two sites in Northern Ireland and questioned a truck driver as they investigated the deaths of 39 people found in a truck container that they believe came from Zeebrugge and was found at an industrial park in southeastern England. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
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